Hoops winger James Forrest has Rangers in his sights as he looks to shut up his kid brother.

Forrest has been one of the stand-out players for Celtic this term but he has never scored against Rangers in his senior career, something that his kid brother has taken some delight in reminding him of.

Alan Forrest plies his trade at Ayr United and recently scored against Rangers in their Scottish Cup defeat to Graeme Murty’s side, while he also found the net against them in a league encounter back in 2014.

Read more: Davie Hay: Rangers will fancy their chances but Celtic don't wilt under domestic pressure

Forrest has already reached his best ever return in front of goal this season but hitting one against Rangers is high on the agenda.

“I would love to do that,” smiled the Scotland internationalist. “It will be a hard game. They have being doing well since the break and it is always a tough game whenever we go to Ibrox so we know it will be a hard game when it comes around.

“He [my brother] has told me that he scored against them twice now so hopefully I can peg him back.

“That is what you want to do with Celtic. Every game is a pressure game and there is a lot on every game you play.

“It doesn’t matter who you are playing, there is always massive pressure. But when you are playing the teams round about you then you want to show that you are at Celtic for a reason. You want to play in Cup finals and go and play in the big games.”

Forrest has netted 16 goals this season so far to eclipse his previous campaign best of 9, but he is well within the possibility of hitting the 20-goal mark.

“This is the first year I have ever hit double figures,” he said. “There are a few more games to go and I just want to play as many as I can and score a few more – I would be happy with that.

“It’s been really enjoyable, playing in Europe in the Champions League, winning the cup final and scoring goals as well as playing in internationals. That’s what you want to do and it’s been great so far.

“We’ve got 10 league games, a few internationals and a few cup games left as well, so hopefully I can keep going and keep doing what I’m doing.”

The imminent return of Patrick Robert from injury will ensure that Forrest is kept on his toes but the challenge of keeping his jersey is not one that the winger has shied away from.

“You look at the squad and we have so many players,” he said. “We can do 11v 11 in training and still have players not involved in that.

Read more: Celtic playmaker Charly Musonda ready to experience first taste of silverware

“We have a big squad with quality players in every position. The manager always says to us that every day in training you need to be at it because if you aren’t there is always someone there waiting to take your place.

“There is competition and I do think it does bring out the best because you know that if you don’t perform then you won’t play.”

Celtic’s call off this week against Dundee has given the players down time that they did not anticipate but over the course of the next few months they have a greater opportunity to get back onto the training ground.

Much of this season has been spent preparing for midweek European games and any respite has been consumed with the international calendar.

“Since pre-season it has been a game every three days,” he explained. “When you look at the schedule now we have got a few week-to-week games and the manager likes to get hard training sessions in there and prepare us for the games coming up. We have a big squad and everyone will be raring to go.”

The 26-year-old will look to kick on from the win at Pittodrie on Sunday as Celtic look to get up a head of steam going into the final stages of the season.

“After the defeat everyone was gutted but to come back and play the team that is just behind us in the league and go there and keep a clean sheet and get the win made it a good day all round and hopefully we can take confidence from that,” he said.